3 Months Old!

Boy, this updating of the blog is challenging to get done with a newborn around! Nolan turns 3 months old this week and is continuing to wow us with his smile. He just started to giggle this week and loves Aaron or I talking and babbling with him. He's also working on figuring out how to push up on his arms while laying on his tummy and seems to be beginning to attempt to roll from his stomach to his back.

Over Father's Day weekend, Nolan went on his first camping trip to the Sedona/Flagstaff area. He did a great job on the trip and enjoyed riding in the carrier during our hike and sleeping in the tent. Mommy & Daddy forgot to pack warm blankets for ourselves, making the nights a little chilly, but Nolan was nice and toasty wearing a handmade sweater and hat and bundled in lots of baby blankets! We enjoyed "escaping" the summer heat of Phoenix for a few days and were happy that the trip went very well. The picture above is from our hike to the Inner Basin in the mountains near Flagstaff. We had to drive up a steep dirt road to the trailhead and then hiked a couple miles (uphill...not so easy with a 13 lb baby strapped onto your stomach!) to reach 9,700 foot elevation. Nolan's favorite part seemed to be looking at the white bark of the aspen trees in the forest as we walked along!

This week Aaron is at camp with the Confirmation kids from Desert Cross, and Aaron's mom is coming out to spend a week with us (and help me out with Nolan and Lana!). Hard to believe how quickly the weeks are flying by and how rapidly Nolan grows and changes!

2 Months & Counting!

It's getting hard to keep up with these postings...Nolan is keeping us very busy! Since the last update, his personality has begun to come out and he loves smiling at us, imitating our facial expressions (especially sticking his tongue out!), and making all sorts of new sounds and coos. He had his 2 month doctor's appointment last week and weighed in at 11 lbs 14 oz and was 23 inches long, putting him at right about the 50th percentile for his age. He also received his first 3 vaccinations (which was hard for me to watch!) but did very well and seemed to be feeling just fine following a short nap.

Nolan's highlight last week was having his Grandma Sue come to visit. They spent many hours reading, playing on the floor, napping, and smiling at each other. I was able to get the final chapter of my thesis written while the two of them spent time together and now am looking forward to many weeks of being able to really enjoy my time at home with Nolan.

Aaron is busy at work with a summer preaching series, an adult education class on the NPR program "Speaking of Faith," and preparing for the final steps in his call and ordination process. Hard to believe that we're nearing the end of his 4 years of seminary! Next month we will submit preferences for where we'd like to go for the first call, and we expect to hear about a region and synod placement in October (with church interviews to follow in the couple months after). We plan to be in Tempe until at least November or December and will share more info as we know!